Joint press release with the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e. V.)

The “An(ge)kommen” initiative: German Academic Scholarship Foundation and DAAD support Syrian students

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134 new tandem partnerships

Bonn, 13/01/2016. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e. V.) are launching a joint tandem programme for Syrian students. The partners recently signed a corresponding agreement. Around 67 holders of scholarships from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation support the integration of DAAD-funded Syrian students at over 20 universities; more are to join in the coming weeks.

“The DAAD’s experience and numerous studies have shown how important personal support is for the academic success of international students. The tandem project is intended to consciously foster the dialogue between students from different cultures. Intercultural understanding is the best method for crisis prevention,” says DAAD President Prof. Margret Wintermantel.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supports over 200 Syrian students, who commenced their studies at various universities across Germany in the 2015/16 winter semester. The German Academic Scholarship Foundation is supporting this initiative with its “An(ge)kommen” (“Arriving/ed”) project.

“The personal commitment of our scholarship holders – helping with orientation, discussing subject-related matters and “translating” cultural peculiarities – is intended to make the start at a new university easier for the Syrian students,,” says Secretary General of the Scholarship Foundation Dr. Annette Julius.

Around 67 intercultural tandem pairs were formed after a call for applications addressed to holders of scholarships from the DAAD and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation throughout Germany. Their cooperation commences in 2017: weekly meetings are intended to allow holders of scholarships from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation to help their fellow students find their way around the university as well as integrate them into student life and local activities of the scholarship holder groups.

The project moreover offers German students an opportunity for intensive familiarisation with the Syrian and Arabic cultures and to see their everyday lives from a new perspective. An accompanying project induction programme including a focus on intercultural skills supports the participants in this learning process. A one-year pilot phase is currently planned for the cooperation project.